While many college basketball coaches may be relaxing on Caribbean cruises or vacationing on Hawaiian beaches, Kevin O’Neill is traveling overseas in the hopes of soliciting a few more commitments from some valuable recruits.
Well, according to David Hein of Heinnews.com, it looks as O’Neill has been successful in his attempts, as he looks to bring another European big man on campus this season:
Looks like USC will be getting another European big man on campus for this season. USC coach Kevin O’Neill was in Greece on the first off-day of the competition to talk to his returning sophomore Nikola Vucevic – who cannot wait to get back to L.A. for the chance to play and show the Trojan fans how versatile his game is. And guys with USC gear were seen talking to Latvian big man Davis Rozitis during the first couple of days of the event.
heinnews’s David Hein went up to the 6-foot-11 Davis and asked him if he was heading to USC next season. His response: “Yeah, I’ve never been there. But I’m looking forward to it.” When asked if he has talked to Nikola Vucevic in Rhodes, he said: “Yeah, he’s a nice guy. It should be fun to play with him.”
Teaming Rozitis and Vucevic in the post, O’Neill has plenty of options. And Trojan fans will get a first hand glimpse of the quality level of European players.
We may not be a Pac-10 contender this year, but the way O’Neill is bringing players into the program, I think it’s say that the Trojans will at least be competitive this season.
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Besides Taj Gibson it seems like most of USC’s big men have been a little one dimensional. Such as being a good defender and shot blocker but cannot score, or can rebound but can’t play D etc… Are these two guys truly top notch players?
I haven’t seen this Latvian guy play, but Vucevic can play both ways. He leads the Euro U20 championships in blocks and defensive rebounds, which is a good sign, because he’s more well-known for his offensive game.
I think Kevin is doing it right these euro players are now much better coached than the american AAU players and have more class. I think he is going after there 7′ center also, keep up the great work Kevin and stay away from the R. Sidneys and such.